Big fields may lead to rich pick six

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Wednesday's pick six at Hollywood Park starts with a carryover of $143,950, and there are plenty of horses to go around for bettors. The large fields create the possibility of a lucrative payoff, or even another carryover.

The pick six races are the third through eighth - four sprints and two routes on turf. The shortest field is seven in the seventh race, a six-furlong allowance for fillies and mares, and four of the pick six races have 10 or more entrants.

The seventh race may not have a large field, but it is wide open. The race has a "money won" condition and has drawn three stakes winners - , who won the 2002 California Breeders' Champion Stakes at Santa Anita; Princess V., the winner of the Cactus Flower Stakes at Turf Paradise last month; and Puxa Saco, who won the 2002 Moccasin Stakes here.

They face , the winner of an allowance race at Santa Anita in February; Coconut Girl, who was third in the Woodside Stakes at Bay Meadows on May 2; Diamond Tiara, who was third behind Coconut Girl in an allowance race at Santa Anita on March 31; and Sparkling Ava, who was sixth in the Grade 1 Santa Monica Handicap at Santa Anita last January.

was entered and scratched from Sunday's Grade 1 Vanity Handicap in favor of this race. The 10 days from her last start marks her shortest time between races, trainer Paul Aguirre said.

"It's quick back, but she's doing well," Aguirre said. "I've always spaced her races, but it's not been by design. Some horses run better right back, and we'll find out if she's one of them."

Coconut Girl, 5, is having her best season. In her first start of the year, she finished third in the Grade 3 Las Flores Handicap at Santa Anita on Feb. 22, losing by 4 1/2 lengths to Ema Bovary.

Coconut Girl typically races near the front. She could face early pressure from Princess V., who finished fifth in the B. Thoughtful Stakes over seven furlongs April 24, her second start for trainer Molly Pearson.

Last year, while trained by Neil French, Princess V. finished third in the Grade 1 Prioress Stakes over six furlongs at Belmont Park.

Pocketfullofpesos has speed. Trained by Mike Mitchell, Pocketfullofpesos is making her first start since finishing fifth in the one-mile Torrey Pines Stakes at Del Mar last September. Victory Encounter, who won that race, pulled an upset in Sunday's Grade 1 Vanity Handicap.